Sami Kallio – Swedish design with Finnish roots

Sami Kallio, born in 1975 in Helsinki, is a trained cabinetmaker with an MFA in interior architecture from HDK in Gothenburg and the Industrial School in Helsinki. Since 2011, he has run his own studio and workshop in Gothenburg, where he—by his own words—claims to “combine the melancholy of the Finnish design heritage with the humor of the Swedish tradition.” As both a designer and cabinetmaker, Sami Kallio operates in the space between thought and action, and between Finnish and Swedish influences.

Through Kallio’s work, it is clear that he is someone who values both the Scandinavian craft tradition and the environment, showing that handmade quality and sustainability can be united with contemporary production methods.
This integrity is passed down through his work, resulting in objects that carry an aesthetic with past, present, and future in view. In this sense, one might describe Kallio’s design as timeless.

Kallio approaches the design process by experimenting with full-scale prototypes right from the beginning. In the final product, one can see an object whose specific solutions and functions are not hidden—but articulated as intentional design expressions.This is most clearly seen in the works included in this themed auction, which are prototypes from well-known projects and collections Kallio has produced for, among others, &Tradition and Nordiska Galleriet.

But the prototype, both as an idea and as a physical object, becomes—unlike its mass-produced counterpart—more than just a study. It becomes a kind of one-of-a-kind piece and a tribute to what has been crafted by hand, by Sami Kallio himself. Explore furniture that forms a special part of our Scandinavian design heritage. Welcome to place a bid!